Esmerelda Matilda [a.k.a. Little Bear, Essy-Tilda]

After Vanessa died I decided that I would not bring home any more cats for a while. But, circumstances disregarded my intentions and presented me with a little fuzzy problem. A stray cat was raising her kitten in the bushes and weeds between appartment buildings on my street. The kitten was about 8 weeks old and was starting to venture out of where its mother had concealed it.
 
The little sucker had apparently never been exposed to human-type animals, so when I grabbed her her instincts told her that this large, bipedal mammal must be a preditor looking for a meal. She fought me like she was fighting for her life (which, in her mind, she was). She bit and scratched and screamed and kicked and struggled. When she finally calmed down she was covered with blood... my blood.
 
She's been to the vet and had a distemper shot. We've treated her for worms and ear mites and she's doing great. Julius has befriended her and the two chase each other all over the place. And even when Julius isn't playing with her, she's zipping all over the place like a dark, blurry streak.
 
I hadn't planned to get another cat, but things have turned out a wee bit differently. And, now that she's been with me a few months, I'm not at all displeased with the way things have turned out. She does more than her fair share of making me happy.
 
[30/Sep/01] Esmerelda is still friends with Julius, but she's developed a closer relationship with Bandit. And she is clearly the aggressor in this relationship. I think Bandit isn't half as interested as Essy is.

[8/Dec/08] I haven't updated many of these pages since the great western migration to Washington. Arriving in Everett, washington after 6 days on the road with five cats, Esmerelda hid in the new house for a full month; she was never seen except as a brief flash of dark fur streaking for cover. After a month she would allow herself to be in the same room with me without hiding behind or under something. Another couple of weeks later and she was almost back to normal. She's very much back to normal now and fully aclimated to her new home. In this photo below she's relaxing in front of the fireplace enjoying the warmth.